Chapter 13
Zhao Lan didn’t think she was wrong at all.
Mu Jingzhe had taken her money previously, yet she couldn’t take it back. Thinking about it made her gnash her teeth in anger. Even in her dreams, she wanted to take back the money from Mu Jingzhe.
However, Mu Jingzhe was a smart person. She locked the door at all times and used brute force. Zhao Lan was fearful of her and didn’t dare make a move.
She’d also increasingly found Shao Dong and his siblings more of an eyesore, with Shao Bei being the one she disliked the most.
In the end, she’d coincidentally heard from her eldest daughter-in-law that someone from elsewhere wanted to adopt a child. In particular, they were looking for a little girl.
She might not have been able to give away a grandson, but she had no problem parting with that lass.
She had heard that the family was rich and drove a car. If the adoption was successful, they would even give them some thank-you gifts.
When Zhao Lan had heard this, how could she refuse? Since she could deal with the girl and stop wasting money on her, as well as receive remuneration on top of that, she’d naturally obliged.
When Shao Bei had been alone at home, Zhao Lan had coaxed her into going out with her.
Shao Bei was smart, but she was still young and didn’t know about the evil side of human nature. Zhao Lan was her grandmother, and she had been taking care of them, so she wasn’t as vigilant.
The family had driven Shao Bei away, and Zhao Lan was satisfied with the thank-you gift.
However, she still cared about her dignity. It hadn’t been nice of her to give Shao Qihai’s daughter away so soon after his death, so she had blamed Mu Jingzhe for not looking after the child properly.
It was normal for a stepmother like Mu Jingzhe to not do her best.
She’d also seen this as an opportunity to kick Mu Jingzhe back to her own home. Initially, she hadn’t sent her back to her maternal family because she didn’t want to take care of Shao Dong and his siblings. Now, she felt that she had to send Mu Jingzhe away, as everything was out of control with Mu Jingzhe around.
After she chased Mu Jingzhe away, Shao Qiyang’s salary would be given to her again, and Shao Dong and the rest would be in her charge.
Eating eggs? Wearing new clothes? They could forget about that, as it would be her money then.
She had a good plan, but she hadn’t expected to be exposed by others in the end. Zhao Lan went even crazier.
“Qihai, are you looking at this from heaven? Look at your good wife. If you hadn’t left so early, I wouldn’t have had to do such a wicked thing. I just wanted to give Shao Bei a good life.
“Mu Jingzhe is nothing. Who does she think I am? How dare she hit me? I’m her mother-in-law. I’m going to have her divorced. I don’t want a daughter-in-law like her. From now on, the two of us cannot co-exist in the Shao Family.”
Seeing that the villagers’ expressions had eased up, Zhao Lan wanted to continue, but she saw Shao Nan’s gaze behind the crowd.
The child was like a wolf about to pounce on her and devour her.
Zhao Lan’s complaints were stuck in her throat. “Little brat, what kind of look is that?”
She took off her shoe and threw it at him.
Shao Dong pulled Shao Nan away. He glanced coldly at Zhao Lan, turned around, and left.
“What an ingrate. You’re a pack of ingrates. How did I bring you up—”
Zhao Lan continued to scold Shao Nan. Shao Nan lowered his head as if he was talking to Shao Dong but also talking to himself. “If Little Bei isn’t found, I’ll kill her… I’ll kill her.”
His voice wasn’t loud, and his tone was calm, as if he was narrating something normal.
Shao Dong lowered his head. “Uncle will bring her back. Let’s wait.”
Shao Nan raised his head. “What if we can’t find her?”
“No.” Shao Dong shook his head. “If they don’t find her, we’ll go find her ourselves. I’ll definitely find my sister.”
The five siblings had to stay together.
******
Mu Jingzhe and Shao Qiyang quickly rushed to the county.
They were in such a hurry that they were soon covered in sweat. Their legs didn’t seem to be theirs anymore. Their throats felt like they were on fire.
They rushed to the bus stop without resting.
There were a few shuttle buses parked at the bus stop, but they didn’t drive to the neighboring county city.
“You came too late. The bus only makes one trip there a day. Once it leaves, it won’t come back for a day.”
The driver they asked was an energetic young man. He looked at Mu Jingzhe curiously and asked, “What’s wrong? Are you going to the neighboring county?”
“Yes, my child was taken to the county city, so I have to get her back. Can you make a trip there? We can book a bus, or you can lend us your bus.”
The young man shook his head immediately. “No, all our buses have fixed schedules and routes. The other buses don’t go there. It’s even more impossible to borrow a bus. These aren’t our private buses. They are public buses.”
There was no use asking the other drivers, for they would all give the same answer.
“What should we do?” Shao Qiyang wiped his sweat. “It’s morning now. They have a car, so we can’t catch up.”
Zhao Lan had said that the family would leave this morning.
“What can we do… Let’s find a car. We have to catch up and find them no matter what.”
Mu Jingzhe gritted her teeth. She missed her shabby car and the modern world.
There were surveillance cameras in the modern world and cars everywhere. One could call a taxi or fast car when one wanted, unlike here, where there weren’t many cars in the county city. Other than bicycles and rickshaws, there weren’t even any motorcycles.
“No, I’ll go to the post office to borrow a bicycle.” Shao Qiyang had no other choice.
“A bicycle would be too slow. I don’t know what time we’d get there with it.”
Mu Jingzhe shook her head. It would have been fine if Little Bei had been adopted normally, but she was afraid that there was something fishy going on. She feared that after the adoption, Little Bei would be sent someplace or something terrible would happen to her, causing irreparable harm.
With every minute that passed, Little Bei might encounter a dangerous situation. They couldn’t afford to take the risk.
“Shao Qiyang, do you know which families in the county have cars? Or which families have motorcycles?”
Shao Qiyang frowned. “Why do you ask?”
“We have to think of something. If you know, tell me now.”
“I have no idea.”
Mu Jingzhe closed her eyes. She even wanted to go to the police station.
She hadn’t gone at once because, in this day and age, it wasn’t uncommon for families with many children who couldn’t afford to raise them well to send them away. Zhao Lan was the child’s biological grandmother, and she wasn’t her biological mother. If she went to the police, it was uncertain if it would be of any use. It would also delay them.
Suddenly, as unacceptable ideas such as kidnapping and intimidation were flashing across her mind, Mu Jingzhe saw a jeep coming from not far away.
“A car.”
Mu Jingzhe’s eyes lit up as she ran over. Coincidentally, the jeep stopped.
A person she had not expected to see walked out—Tang Moling.
Mu Jingzhe halted in her tracks.
Seeing anyone else might have been fine, but Tang Moling, the male protagonist of the original novel, who had been taking revenge on her, would most likely punish her when he saw her. The probability of him lending his car to her was either zero or a negative number.
But… Mu Jingzhe continued walking forward because she didn’t have a better alternative.
“Tang Moling… Hello, I’m Mu Jingzhe. Do you remember me? I’m Mu Xue’s cousin.”
Tang Moling saw Mu Jingzhe.
As soon as he did, he felt an inexplicable chill deep down. His hand, which had just recovered, also hurt a little.
Tang Moling was frustrated at this thought. He hadn’t even taught her a lesson for what had happened previously, yet she still dared to approach him.
He narrowed his eyes and asked in an indifferent tone, “What?”
“Here’s the thing. My Little Bei was taken away by someone. We have to get her back immediately. Can we borrow your car?”
“Borrow my car?” Tang Moling had his hands in his pockets as he leaned against the car. He looked down at Mu Jingzhe. “You?”
Mu Jingzhe: “…”
Very good. He was a typical male protagonist.